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I have commented on this in the past, but I have worked in the lab industry. It is very highly regulated, and what is happening now is exactly what should have
by specialp 11y ago
I have commented on this in the past, but I have worked in the lab industry. It is very highly regulated, and what is happening now is exactly what should have been expected. The bottom line in the lab industry is you can market yourself however you want, claim whatever tech, but it is completely worthless unless you can get it FDA approved which is not easy.
Suddenly a company that looks like a Kickstarter page has the valuation of companies like Quest Diagnositics. A problem here and in some investment circles is that people think every industry is ripe for disruption from some whiz kid but it is not always true. The lab industry is very competitive, and HMOs drive the margins down a lot.
- petra 11y agoThe lab industry is not that technologically competitive, or else we would have some lab-on-chip tech deployed by now.
- dalacv 11y agowell, you still have to worry about the science part.
- refurb 11y agoI think you just proved the grandparent's point.
- blackguardx 11y agoLab-on-chip tech exists. It is just very expensive.
- petra 11y agoWhy expensive ? in theory it was supposed to greatly reduce costs.
- specialp 11y agoThere are tests that are done lab on chip but not everything can be done this way. Even a basic chem panel for your blood is 20 analytes. The mechanism for these tests are all different. Also the pre-testing prep for the blood is different. Some tests need whole blood with anti coagulant, some need serum spun down from whole blood, some need other treatments. This is a 50 billion dollar industry. If it was easy to prick someone's finger and run an entire comprehensive panel you better bet it is not going to be found by some teenager dropping out from college. Sure software has been done like this before, but this is hard science and engineering. If someone would have posted on HN that a college dropout without a computer engineering degree is making servers that run on 1/10th the power, people would laugh them off unless they really made one. As mentioned too cost is a big factor. It is at the point now where a basic blood panel is reimbursed at the same cost as a meal at a fast food restaurant. Even if this technology was not vaporware, it would have to be around the same price.